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August 14 and 15, 2026. Kannai, Yokohama.
Introducing the players to watch at SANSIAS presents Yokohama 14-1 Summit.
More than twenty-five years of 14.1, straight pool.
When he was young, his high run was 137.
These days, he says, he usually stops practicing once he reaches 100.
Not chasing records, but laying down a standard, again and again.
“The fundamentals of billiards: the game at the core of technique.”
That is how Matsuno describes 14.1, and as his reasons for playing it, he named
“Being able to make your own selections, and how much ground there is to compete on besides shot-making. And that it lets you extend your career.”
Being able to compete on more than shot-making alone.
14.1 has become the ground on which he can keep playing billiards for a long time.
Ask about his strength, and he says, “Making plans that leave plenty of room.”
He spreads out the risk and builds so that, from anywhere, the next shot can follow.
The hard moments, he said, are “the break shot, and the tough shots that come after it.”
Even so, he gets through them with plans that keep the room wide.
At the core of his practice: “being mindful of sending the cue through straight.”
Because it is simple, it becomes a foundation that lasts.
I asked about a target score.
“Nothing in particular, score-wise, but I’d like to get to where I’m hitting 100 often.”
Average over high run.
Not one high run, but 100 after 100.
A fitting goal, I thought, for someone who values “plans that leave plenty of room.”
I asked about a match that stays with him.
“It wasn’t my own play, but there was a match where Okumura’s play moved me.”
Not his own record, but someone else’s play.
I felt something of how he sees billiards seeping through that answer.
As the teacher he revered, he named the late Shoji Goto.
“He’d finish a 75-point game within five innings, every single time.”
A strength that could be reproduced, not once, but again and again.
He still holds that steadiness dear.
And a word for anyone who wants to take up 14.1.
“In all sorts of ways, it’s a game that raises your level at billiards. If you can, I think it’s good to find chances to play with experienced people (study groups or pros). It takes a bit of work to reach the real fun of it.”
Not one high run, but 100, stacked up again and again.
Building plans that leave room.
It is, I think, the thinking of a man who values what accumulates over a single record.
Takeaki Matsuno
Affiliation: JPBA / Billiard Lesson Studio Trigger
Major results: runner-up, All Japan Rotation; other top finishes
Years playing 14.1: 25+ | High run: 137 (in his younger days)
Cue: TAD
Tip: Kamui
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